THYMEL^AOE^. 11.9 



the Cehstracece whose ovules are descending, as is invariably the 

 case in the Thymelacew, the mycropyle, exterior in the latter, is 

 turned upwards and inwards. It would always be diflGlcult, as we 

 have elsewhere pointed out,^ not to find a striking resemblance be- 

 tween Octolepis ^ and Geissoloma. 



TJsES.^ — The ThymelecB are acrid plants, often very dangerous, 

 most parts, when introduced into the intestinal canal, producing 

 a violent, sometimes mortal, irritation; in the mouth and 

 throat, a burning sensation, followed by a change in the mucous 

 membrane analogous to that produced on the skin, and which is 

 true blistering if the contact is sufficiently prolonged. This pro- 

 perty has been attributed to daphnine,'^ a principle often found in 

 Daphne united with a green oil, which can be analysed into glucose 

 and daphnetine. Many European Daphnes are employed as vesicants, 

 chiefly Garou, D. laureola and Bois-gentil (D. Mesereum). The 

 bark and more rarely the seeds are used in medicine. Garou (or 

 Sain-Bois ^) is a small shrub from the south of Europe. Its bark,flexible 

 and difficult to break, has a tenacious liber which might be textile 

 if freed from the fine white silk which covers the exterior, and 

 which, entering the skin, produces a painful itching. It is acrid, 

 nauseous, corrosive, and is used especially in preparing blistering 

 powders and ointments. The fresh bark itself has also been em- 

 ployed, in southern districts, to establish revulsion and- issue. It is 

 an active but dangerous emmenagogue, and also a powerful mode- 

 rator of cutaneous affections. Bois-gentil^ (fig. 81-85) has quite 



' Adanaonia, xi. 290, etc. Lamk. Fl. Fr. iii. 222. — Thymelcea Gnidium 



' Oliter oompares ttese with. Fenaa. Alx. Fl. Pedem. i. 153 {Lin semvage ou hdtard, 



' Endl. Enehiiid. 209. — Lindl. Fl. Med. 324 ; Trintanelle, ThtjmSUe de Montpellier, Cmn^Ue 



Veg. Kingd. 531. — Gtjib. Drag. Simpl. M. 6, ii. noire, Sois d'oreilUs). 



384. — EosENTH. Syn. PI. Diaphor. 240, 1133. ' D. Mesereum L.Spec. 356. — Blackw. Herb. 



i 0MH«0''6. SwENG. Ann. Chem. und Pharm. t. 582.— Nees, le. Fl. Germ. iii. t. 46.— 



cxv. 1. — GuEiLLioT, Etude sur lea Daphne. Eeichb. Ic. Fl. Germ. t. 566. — Hayne, Arzn. 



—(This, ficole . . . Pharm. Par. 1867. Gew. iii. t. 43. — Meh. et Del. Diet. Mat. 



^Dap/me Gnidium L. Spec. 357. — Duham. 'Mid. ii. 584. — Gms. loc. eit. 385. — Gren. et 



Arbr. ii. t. 23. — Sibth. et Sm. Fl. Qraic, t. 356. Godr. Fl. deFr. iii. 57. — Eosenth. op. eit. 240. 



— Mee. et Del. Diet. Mat. Med. ii. 680.— — Bebq. et Scum. iJarsi. Off. Gew. t. Wb.—D. 



Hatne, Arsn. Gew. iii. t. 45. — Eeichb. Ic. Fl. Liotardi Vill. Dauph. iii. 5W.—Mezereum offi- 



Germ. t. 653.— Guib. op. eit. ii, 384, fig. 471.— cinarum 0. A. Met. Beitr. v. n. 112.- 



Geen. et GoDB. Fl. de Fr. iii. 60.— Caz. Mezereum Scop. Fl. Carniol. 279.— All. Fl. 



Med. Indig. 6i.S,36S.—Us\.Fl.Mid.duXlXe Pedem. 131 (Joli-boia, Fam-Garou, ZaweoU 



Sidcle,n. 76. — Eosenth. op. eit. 240. — D. Cni- femelleoMj 

 Boiss, Voi/. Esp. ii. 657. — D. Panimlata 



